Gnome modem monitor - doesn't.....

[sktsee]

On Thu, 2008-05-01 at 22:09 -0400, Brian McKee wrote: 
> I'm trying dial up on Ubuntu for the first time ever....  I installed
> gnome-ppp and I can connect and disconnect using the 'Dialup
> Connections' -> 'Connect to' on the Network Monitor.
> 
> Problem is this desktop is supposed to be given to a senior, and there's
> no feedback that the modem is connected.
> 
> Gnome-modem-monitor applet looks like the right ticket - but it doesn't
> work - Left clicking it does nothing, and the tool tip says 'Could not
> get connection time'.  Right clicking it shows Activate and Deactivate
> greyed out.  Choosing properties launches the Network properties box,
> but you can't even use it since the 'Unlock' button is greyed out.
> 
> I see Bug#54790 which I think is related, but it's been around since
> 2006.  Surely somebody is using this and tell me what I'm missing or a
> good workaround?
> 
> All comments appreciated,
> 

I setup my dialup connections with pppconfig and use the pon/poff
scripts for call/hangup control. Since I usually have gkrellm running, I
set up a network krell for the ppp0 interface which provides ppp status,
time online, data transfer rate, receive/transmit state and single
button to call/hangup a connection. It works very well. 

In addition to gkrellm, I also have the Network Monitor applet loaded
for when I have an app maximized on the screen and gkrellm is not
visible. It displays a tiny red circle symbol with a horizontally
centered white line to indicate if the ppp interface is down.

If you didn't want to rely on gkrellm, but want to avoid having to use
the command line for call initiation/termination,  I suppose you could
setup a couple of launchers on the destkop, 1 for calling (/usr/bin/pon
<provider>) and 1 for hangup (/usr/bin/poff).

One caveat with using pppconfig and pon/poff scripts over Network
Manager is that NM utilizes a different set of chatscripts and
configuration files from what pppconfig and pon/poff uses. That's
important to keep in mind when making a config change, or attempt at
troubleshooting a problem.

-- 
sktsee